


al-waves by your side

by kihyuks



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Sirens, Storms, hoseok is a sailor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kihyuks/pseuds/kihyuks
Summary: a siren and a sailor form an unlikely friendship—and maybe something more.
Relationships: Lee Hoseok | Wonho/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	al-waves by your side

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to be up on kihyun's bday but uhhhh i didnt wanna edit it so it is late HJSJFS

Kihyun is bored. So, incredibly bored. He rests his chin on his hand and sighs, tapping a beat out on the wet rocks below him. He watches as the waves crash against the rocks at the base of his cave, the thunder storming outside as it pours with rain. 

Kihyun used to love the rain and the thunder. It calmed him, especially to watch the lightning light up the sky above. But slowly he came to realise that bad weather just means that no sailors are around. And days without sailors are the most boring days  _ ever _ . 

What fun is there in life if Kihyun can’t lure sailors from the sea into his cave?

His favourite sailors are the ones where they don’t believe in sirens, think they’re simply a myth or a legend, something told to children to warn them off becoming sailors, as it’s definitely not the safest job in the world. Those are his favourite because they never suspect a thing. When Kihyun begins to sing, they don’t stop to consider a siren—they don’t believe in them, after all—and he’s able to lure them to him easily. Then, when they least expect it, he can strike them down. 

Kihyun wouldn’t say he’s a killer or anything like that. He doesn’t exactly  _ want  _ to spend his days sitting around and waiting for another unsuspecting sailor to come by so he can lure them in and take their life. He has to, though. It’s his nature. 

And, well, he can’t say that no one was ever warned about sirens. It’s humans’ choice whether or not they want to believe in his existence and therefore be wary when sailing. If they choose not to believe and then fall unsuspectingly right into Kihyun’s trap, can he really be blamed?

Kihyun has never met another siren before, other than his mother, but she passed away many years ago. He’s not even sure if other sirens exist or if he’s the only one left. Either option is equally as probable as Kihyun has no way of finding out either way. He can’t just ask any sailors he comes across, either, because anyone who meets a siren never lives to tell the tale. 

It’s a lonely life that Kihyun lives. Part of him wishes he had a companion, someone to spend his days with and talk to, to make his days where nothing else happens a little bit brighter, but who is there to be a companion to someone such as himself? If he doesn’t know of any other sirens existing, he’ll never have the companion he desires so bad. 

One day, he thinks, as the waves crash down around him as the storm grows bigger, he’ll find himself someone to pass his days by with. 

One day. 

* * *

The storm lasts for days. Whenever it starts to look like it’s going to ease up, it seems to get heavier once again. 

Kihyun scowls at the huge grey clouds that cover the sky above. The longer this goes on, the longer he has to go without a meal, and Kihyun gets angry when he hasn’t had a meal in a while. 

He sits on his rock in his cave—his home, really, if you can call it that—and he watches the droplets of rain as they plummet past the mouth of the cave. 

Then, out in the distance, if Kihyun squints, he thinks he might be able to see a boat. 

He watches as the small dot in the distance comes closer and closer, and as he thought, that definitely is a boat. It’s only a small one, too, from the looks of things. 

Who dares to sail out in a storm like this? 

Well, whoever it is is now Kihyun’s next meal. He stands, takes a deep breath in, and dives into the water below. He’s practically swallowed up by the waves, but Kihyun loves it. He loves being in the water, feeling it all around him, the way it resists as he swims through it, pushing back against him. 

He takes off swimming, directly towards the boat. Kihyun keeps a few metres under the surface to ensure that he isn’t seen. 

When the shadow of the boat is in view just up ahead, Kihyun breaks the surface and looks over at the boat. There’s one sailor alone on it and he hasn’t spotted Kihyun yet—perfect. 

Kihyun keeps himself still and above the surface by paddling gently in the water, and then he opens his mouth and begins to sing. He picks his favourite song, one his mother used to sing to him—it’s a song of a tale of a siren and a man who fell in love. 

Kihyun doesn’t know why he loves the song so much, especially when it’s so unrealistic as how could such a thing ever happen when men are destined to fall at siren’s voices? But he chooses it anyway. It is rather amusing of a song choice, he thinks. 

The sailor has spotted him now and he’s taken a step closer to the edge of his boat, staring intensely at Kihyun. 

Kihyun smiles as he sings. Any second now, the man will jump into the water and that’ll be the end for him. 

But, the seconds pass, and the man simply stands there and watches Kihyun. 

The end of the song rolls around, and the man is still standing there. 

“That was a beautiful song,” the man says, a smile on his face, like Kihyun isn’t a siren trying to kill him. 

Kihyun glares at him, because he doesn’t know how else to cope with this situation. 

“You’re a siren, right?”

Again, Kihyun doesn’t reply, but the man doesn’t seem to mind. 

“Well, I assume you want to eat me and I’m not making that easy for you, so I should probably go now.” He sits down and steers the boat in the opposite direction. 

Before he can leave, Kihyun calls out, “Who are you?”

“My name is Hoseok,” the stranger replies, and then he sails away back into the storm where he came from. 

* * *

Kihyun can’t stop thinking about the strange man—Hoseok—who was completely immune to Kihyun’s song. 

Kihyun’s never met someone who isn’t affected at all by the song of a siren, and it both infuriates and intrigues him to know that Hoseok exists and is such a person. 

He finds himself sitting in his cave every day, waiting to see that small boat approach him once again. He wants to see Hoseok again so that he can question him about how it is that he can just sail away unscathed after meeting a siren, because that’s not a tale many men—if any—can tell. 

Also, he thinks that maybe, just maybe, there’s a potential friendship there. Hoseok wasn’t afraid of Kihyun, and Kihyun couldn’t kill Hoseok if he tried. That’s pretty much the bare minimum of what could form a friendship, but when you’re a lonely siren (all sirens are lonely, not just Kihyun, but it doesn’t make it suck any less) those things are important. 

But, Hoseok doesn’t return. 

The days pass by as Kihyun sits there and waits and stares out to the sea, hoping and praying that the sailor will return to him. 

Other boats pass by, both smaller ones as well as a huge pirate ship, but Kihyun ignores them all. 

He doesn’t want to hunt right now—he wants to see Hoseok again. 

If he ever decides to return, that is. 

* * *

Another stormy night rolls around, and Kihyun doesn’t expect much from it. 

So, it comes as quite a surprise when he sees a small boat out in the distance, heading towards the cave he calls home. Kihyun doesn’t want to get his hopes up, but there’s only one sailor that Kihyun’s ever seen venture out this far from the coast during a storm. 

Kihyun dives into the water and swims through it at incredible speed towards the boat. 

When he reaches it, he’s afraid to even surface in case he’s wrong because of the disappointment he’ll have to face, but he eventually convinces himself to. 

He’s not disappointed in the slightest. 

“Oh, you’re the siren from the other day,” Hoseok says, smiling. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

Kihyun hasn’t told anyone his name in a long, long time—he has no need to when he never meets anyone who will stick around to need to use his name. Sharing his name therefore feels intimate, even though he knows it shouldn’t, but there’s something about Hoseok that intrigues Kihyun. 

So, he says, “My name’s Kihyun.”

“Kihyun,” Hoseok repeats, testing the name out on his tongue. “Well, nice to meet you, Kihyun.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Kihyun doesn’t know how to proceed with conversation from here. He’s never really in a situation where he  _ has _ to make conversation. 

So, he asks the one question that’s been stuck on his mind ever since he first met Hoseok. “Why do you sail in storms?”

Hoseok grins and it’s obvious that he’s been asked this question before. “Because when it’s storming, no one else is around. It’s just me and the sea as one.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Kihyun says. 

“Not every day you meet a siren though, huh?”

“That’s right.”

Kihyun hears a sound in the far, far distance. Something is coming. Something bad. 

“You should get out of here,” he tells Hoseok. “Something far worse than me is on the way.”

Hoseok looks out into the distance and frowns. “I don’t see anything.”

“Trust me,” Kihyun says, urgency in his voice. “You need to get out of here.”

Hoseok thankfully listens. “Okay. I’ll see you next storm, Kihyun.”

“Goodbye, Hoseok.”

Hoseok sails away, and Kihyun, not wanting to get caught up with whatever monster is making its way here, quickly swims back to his cave. 

Although he would’ve liked to spend more time with Hoseok, there’s always the next storm that rolls around, and hopefully no monsters. 

* * *

As soon as the storm hits, Kihyun ventures from his cave in search of Hoseok. Of course, he can’t guarantee that he’ll find Hoseok, but since he seems to sail only during storms, he thinks he has a pretty good chance of doing so. 

He does find Hoseok after swimming around for a while, and he swims up to his boat as usual, but today Kihyun has a different plan. 

“Hello,” he says in greeting. 

“Hey, Kihyun,” Hoseok greets back, all smiles as usual. “How have things been?”

“Every day is the same,” Kihyun says simply. He doesn’t feel comfortable mentioning to Hoseok what he has to do to survive—kill humans—because Hoseok is a human too, so he keeps it vague. He’s sure Hoseok would understand—Kihyun can’t help being a siren and what’s in his nature—but he doesn’t want to risk ruining this friendship before it even really starts. 

“Being a siren sounds monotonous, then,” Hoseok says cheekily. 

“It is. It’s rather boring, actually.”

“Then I hope my irregular visits can brighten your life a little bit.”

“They do,” Kihyun says honestly. “I’ve been alone all my life. It’s nice to have a friend.” His eyes widen the second the word ‘friend’ leaves his mouth, because he didn’t mean to say that. How can he say that, when he barely even knows Hoseok yet? Hoseok must have so many friends back on land, so why would he consider a siren who he only recently met a friend?

Before Kihyun can spiral further, Hoseok says, “Then I’m glad to be your friend.”

“Since you’re my friend, would you like to come to my caves with me?” Kihyun asks. It’s what he’d wanted to ask Hoseok as soon as he saw that there was a storm, so he’s glad he managed to ask without psyching himself out. 

“Your caves?”

“My home,” Kihyun corrects. 

“I’d love to,” Hoseok says. “Want to hop in the boat with me or swim back?”

“I’ll swim. Being out of the water when it’s open sea like this kinda makes me nervous,” Kihyun admits. 

And so together they travel back to Kihyun’s caves where the storm doesn’t quite reach. Once inside, Kihyun climbs out onto the rocks—the one place he feels safe outside of the water—and Hoseok leaves his boat to sit down beside Kihyun. 

They’re both soaked through, but for Kihyun that’s normal. He’s meant to feel the water against his skin as a siren, but Hoseok’s only a human. 

Hoseok shivers, but tries to hide it unsuccessfully from Kihyun. 

“I wish I could offer you something to warm up and dry off,” Kihyun says. 

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be fine soon,” Hoseok insists. 

He doesn’t look like he’ll be fine, but Kihyun won’t argue with him. 

They fall into a silence. The only sounds to be heard are the heavy patter of rain against the rocks above and the quiet chatter of Hoseok’s teeth. 

Kihyun wishes he had something to say, but nothing comes to mind. He wonders why he even brought Hoseok back here—it was very on a whim to do so and he hadn’t exactly thought his plan all the way through. 

“What’s it like?” Hoseok asks all of a sudden. 

“What’s what like?”

“Being a siren.”

Kihyun hums and thinks over the best way to explain it. “It’s lonely, but it’s all I’ve ever known. It’s quiet and nice to live in solitude in my cave, but sometimes I crave the presence of someone else beside me.”

“Do sirens not get along?” Hoseok questions. 

“Not usually. Any other sirens I’ve come across have been very aggressive. Usually it’s a territorial thing. You don’t cross into another siren’s territory, and you especially don’t hunt there.” 

It’s strange to talk about this all out loud. This is Kihyun’s truth, and one he’s never shared with anyone because he’s had no one to share it with. There’s probably also some sort of siren code that you’re not supposed to reveal the truth about sirens to humans, but why should Kihyun care? 

Hoseok falls silent for a long time, and then finally admits, “I’m part siren.”

Kihyun’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You are?”

“It’s distant, I don’t know a lot about it, but I assume it’s why your song didn’t affect me.”

“That would explain it,” Kihyun says. “I’ve never heard of children of both humans and sirens. I didn’t know it was possible.”

“I don’t think it’s common at all. As far as I can tell, the only family with both siren and human descendents is my own.”

“You’re pretty unique then, huh?” Kihyun says with a smile. 

“Something like that. But that’s why I was so interested to meet you and why I want to learn more about sirens—if you’re willing to teach me, of course.”

“I don’t know,” Kihyun says teasingly. “I feel like knowledge should only be shared between friends.”

“Are we not friends? You are, after all, the only person outside of my family to know I have siren DNA in me,” Hoseok says, challenging him. 

Kihyun concedes. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know, friend.”

Hoseok grins wide at him. 

Kihyun’s heart skips over a beat, and it feels like the start of something new. 

* * *

Hoseok stays with Kihyun until the storm passes, and then he stays a little longer. 

Kihyun doesn’t mind, of course. He enjoys having company, in fact, but he can’t help but feel he’s trapped Hoseok here because he wanted a friend and it isn’t because Hoseok wanted to stay. 

“What are you thinking about?” Hoseok asks, prodding Kihyun’s cheek. 

Kihyun turns to look at him and attempts a smile, but it falls flat. “I’m worried.”

“About?” Hoseok prompts. 

“Do you want to be here?”

“Of course I do,” Hoseok replies, and there’s no sign of a lie in his voice. “Why? Am I intruding? I can leave.”

“No, no,” Kihyun says quickly. “I just don’t want you to feel like you  _ have  _ to stay.”

“If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.”

Kihyun remembers the other thing he noticed—Hoseok hasn’t eaten since Kihyun’s been with him, and probably long before that. “Do you not need to eat? As far as I was aware humans have to eat multiple times a day.”

“Siren blood, remember?” Hoseok says. “I’ve never had to eat as often as others. I assume you eat rarely?”

“Every few weeks, yeah,” Kihyun answers. “I can catch you fish if you need them, though.”

“I’ll be okay for now,” Hoseok promises. “There is another question I had, but it might be personal.”

“Personal doesn’t bother me. What is it?”

“Do you not know your family?” Hoseok asks quietly, almost reluctantly. 

“My mother, yes, but she passed away a number of years ago. She brought me up and taught me the ways of the sirens until I was old enough to take care of myself, and then she sent me off into the world. I don’t remember much about her, really. It’s been a long time since she was around.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hoseok says sincerely. “How old are you, though?”

Kihyun thinks about it, but he realises he doesn’t have an answer. “I don’t even really know. I’ve never bothered to try and keep track. It just didn’t seem all that important,” Kihyun admits. 

“Wow, so you could be, like,  _ old _ old and you’d have no idea?”

Kihyun laughs. “How old are you, then?”

“Twenty-six,” Hoseok says proudly, the way a child would say their age. “Do I look it?”

“You don’t look a day over twelve,” Kihyun jokes. 

Hoseok pouts at him. “You’re a meanie.”

“You know it.”

Hoseok yawns widely and then says, “I’m kinda tired. Do you mind if I nap?”

“Go ahead. I might go hunt, and I don’t think you should experience that anyway,” Kihyun says. He realises now more than ever that killing humans—what he has to do to survive—is most probably considered wrong to Hoseok, and he doesn’t want to have to make him bear witness to that. 

Hoseok, though, doesn’t look bothered at all. “Oh, okay. You do what you have to do,” is all he says, smiles and then lies down to sleep. 

The more time Kihyun spends with Hoseok and the more he gets to know him, the less he feels like he understands humans. But, he wouldn’t trade this situation for the world—he’s glad to have found a friend in Hoseok. 

* * *

Hoseok sticks around for a lot longer than either of them anticipated. He leaves occasionally to return to see his friends and family, but he always comes back to Kihyun, and the more time the two of them spend together, the more Kihyun starts to realise that the ache in his chest when Hoseok is around and the funny feeling in his stomach when Hoseok smiles at him and the way his heart pounds like it's attempting to break free whenever their hands accidentally touch isn’t just the friendship Kihyun expected from Hoseok—he’s caught romantic feelings for him. 

Which leads Kihyun to his current predicament—does he tell Hoseok or not?

He has no idea what humans actually  _ do _ in situations like this. While his mother explained the concept of love to him when he was a young, confused child, he never quite understood it until now. And she didn’t explain what to  _ do _ when you fall in love. 

The thought of telling Hoseok brings fear to Kihyun, which is what makes him reluctant to tell him, but also he wonders why he’d keep it a secret. If love is beautiful and to be celebrated as his mother told him, shouldn’t he share that love with Hoseok?

So, one day, when Hoseok returns to Kihyun’s caves after having to return to the world of humans for a little while, Kihyun decides he’s going to tell him. 

As it turns out, Hoseok had the exact same idea. 

Hoseok steps out of his boat with an arm behind his back, clearly hiding something from Kihyun’s view. 

Kihyun narrows his eyes at him. “What are you hiding?”

“A secret,” Hoseok says. He sits down in front of Kihyun, all the while keeping whatever he has expertly hidden from Kihyun, and takes a deep breath. “I have something to tell you.” 

“Okay?” Kihyun’s confused now. Why is Hoseok acting so suspicious?

“This might be weird, and we can forget I ever said anything if so, but I figured I have nothing to lose. So here goes.” He finally brings his hand into view and in his palm sits a beautiful, shining pale pink, rather large pearl. “I kinda really like you a lot, and I have no idea if sirens are into the whole relationship thing and feelings and whatnot like humans are, so I tried to get something to try and show you my feelings for you.” His ears are tipped with pink as he speaks—almost the same colour as the pearl in his hand. 

Hoseok hands the pearl over to Kihyun and continues. “It’s a local pearl, discovered nearby to here, so I wanted you to have it and to tell you that I really like you and yeah. That’s it.”

Kihyun stares at the pearl that now sits in his own palm, and then looks at Hoseok with a huge grin on his face. “I was planning to tell you that I kinda have feelings for you, but you beat me to it and got me a gift. I’ll have to do one better at some point.”

Hoseok visibly deflates with relief. “Oh, god, okay, this is happening. You actually like me too?”

“I do. The pearl is beautiful, also. Thank you. I’ll treasure it forever.”

“So, what now?” Hoseok asks. 

“I mean, you can kiss me, I can kiss you, or we can just lie here beside each other,” Kihyun answers. There are so many possibilities for what they can do, but he figures Hoseok needs it narrowed down to just a few options with how nervous he seems. 

“Can I hold your hand?”

Kihyun smiles and nods. He holds out his hand to let Hoseok hold it. 

Hoseok’s hand is rough and calloused, but Kihyun doesn’t even care that his hands aren’t soft because they’re so uniquely Hoseok, and that’s all that matters. 

And it’s only a simple gesture, two hands fitting together while the seawater laps at the rocks below them, but Kihyun is happy. 

* * *

“Hoseok!” Kihyun calls, swimming through the rough waves back to his—now his and Hoseok’s—caves. 

As always, Hoseok is sitting in his little boat at the entrance to the caves waiting for Kihyun. 

Kihyun swims up to the side of the boat and he pulls himself out of the water slightly while Hoseok leans down so their lips can meet in a kiss. 

Hoseok giggles when they part, as he always does, and says, “Let’s get back inside.”

They return into their home together—Hoseok in his boat and Kihyun swimming along beside him. 

When they’re finally sitting down on the rocks again beside one another, Kihyun shows Hoseok what’s been in his hand this whole time—a pure white pearl. 

“What’s that?” Hoseok asks, awe in his voice. 

“A gift for you,” Kihyun says. “You got me a pearl when we first got together, so I wanted to get you one as a promise that I’ll be by your side forever.”

Hoseok smiles, tears welling up in his eyes, and he takes the pearl from Kihyun, holding it tight in his hand and if he’s afraid to let go. “I love you so much.”

“And I love you,” Kihyun says, leaning forward to kiss Hoseok’s forehead. 

Back when Kihyun ventured out in that storm and found that unusual sailor on his little boat, he never expected anything to come from it, but now he’s so glad that he decided to go out there and sing to Hoseok. 

Against all the odds and despite everything he knew about sirens and their lonely lives, Kihyun found Hoseok. 

And now he doesn’t have to live a life alone—he can live a life filled with love and happiness with Hoseok by his side. 

**Author's Note:**

> kudos & comments appreciated!!!
> 
> twitter: [@changkihyks](http://twitter.com/changkihyks/)  
> cc: [changkihyks](https://curiouscat.me/changkihyks?t=1559413679/)


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